A local flavor of talent was a part of softball history at St. Mary’s College after it won its first ever West Coast Conference title.
The Gaels, who earned a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 14 years, saw Tori Cervantes and Victoria Castillo start 30 plus games for a 30 win team.
An all-county third baseman at Notre Dame in Salinas, Cervantes started 43 games at shortstop for the Gaels, hitting .270 with four homers and 23 RBI, stealing 13 of 14 bases.
Castillo, a part of Alvarez’s first CCS title team in 2022, started 33 games in right field for St. Mary’s, hitting .250, while scoring 14 runs. She had just one error in 47 chances in the field.
Salinas graduate Iris Bejarano earned a handful of starts in the infield in her first season after transferring from Holy Names, while Alisal alum Ashley Cortez hit .300 in nine games.
In addition, former Salinas High and CS East Bay standout Emily Montanez served as the Gaels associate head coach, her fifth season with the program.
